Pass Game Coordinator/ Wide Receivers Coach Chad O’Shea (10.17.25)
What are you guys doing to try to minimize some of the drops that we’ve been seeing?
“Yeah, we put an emphasis, like we always do, on our fundamentals. We know how important it is for the receivers, we always say, ‘Hey, our job is to get open,’ and that’s through being outstanding in our route running, fundamentally, and that’s to catch the ball- and it all goes back to fundamentals. So, whenever we fall short in any fundamental, whether it’s the catch, or the route running, or blocking in the run game, we go back and emphasize those fundamentals, and make sure that we prioritize them in our individual drills that we do at practice, as well as anything else we can do to just emphasize those individual fundamentals. That’s the only way that I have learned or know to fix it as a coach, is just to go back and emphasize the things that we need to be better at. And there’s obviously a lot of things that the receivers have to do, fundamentally – not just catch the ball. So, we’re always evaluating how we can be better, and to be better, you have to just do it, do it on the practice field and really emphasize those fundamentals.”
Do you notice guys like Jerry (Jeudy) pressing? Do you see them trying to do too much and that impacting their fundamentals?
“Yeah, I think everybody’s different. I do think that Jerry takes so much pride, and he wants to help the team in any way he can. Obviously, he knows he helps the team in catching the football. So, obviously Jerry works extremely hard for us. I have encouraged Jerry to just concentrate on the fundamentals of catching the football, and he’s done that and he’ll continue to do that. But Jerry certainly proved that he can do it in this league and do it at a high level, and that’s what we’re looking for, and just go back to the basics. And fundamentally, we just have to be better there.”
With all the issues with Ced (Cedric Tillman) getting hurt and the drops, and it’s a real young room. So, what’s the conversation in there like on a weekly basis for, how can we help this struggling offense get to where it needs to go?
“Yeah, when you do have some moving parts, which we’ve had at the receiver position this year, and you have youth a part of that, I think it’s so important to focus in on the now and the present. You know, our focus, as I came up here prior to this, was having a walkthrough with the players to make sure that we are very detailed in what we’re doing on Friday’s practice. Tomorrow, we’ll have great meetings, and walkthrough, and preparation and focus in on that. And then obviously, the game. So, I think that you can’t look too much forward, you can’t look too much back – you need to learn from mistakes and things you can learn from. But I think staying in the present is what we’ve encouraged our players to do, and that just increases their chance to learn the information, to go out there and execute it at the level that we need it to be executed at.”
How do you guard against some of the receivers getting frustrated at this point, and Jerry trying to keep his head in the game and other guys trying to, especially when the precision isn’t there in the passing game for whatever reason?
“The focus, I think, always goes back to when you do fall short of where you want to be, whether it’s fundamentally or the amount of catches or those things that receivers all want to be a part of. I think you go back to the basics, and that’s certainly what we’ve really focused on is the basics, of ‘What do we need to do on this play to be successful?’ And I always try to encourage the players to not have too many things to think about on a play – let’s just do these one to two things right, the details that we have to get right on each play to be successful. And I think if their focus is on that, they’ll have a lot more success than they would failure. And that’s what we’ve really tried to emphasize, is just, let’s do the simple things really well, and that eliminates all distractions and eliminates anything else out there that may prevent them from being at the level that we want them to be at.”
Can it be as simple as one big game unlocking things? Especially for a guy like Jerry who’s done it before. You know, basketball shooters just need to see the ball go through the basket. Does he just maybe need to see one of those games to calm him down?
“Absolutely. I mean, these guys, obviously, we know how important it is for, anyone professionally, to have confidence. And with one game, you can turn the level of confidence with a player. And we see it in all sports – I’ve certainly experienced it in my career with players that may not be playing up to the standard that they know they can, and then they have, let’s call it a ‘breakout game’ and have a lot of success in one game, and it really does – it’s like momentum in a football game – it’s no different momentum with each individual, you kind of get on a roll. So obviously, that’s what we’re looking for, is for all of our players to go out there and have a lot of positive things happen and then create some momentum, both individually and as a team that ultimately leads to the wins.”
Chad (O’Shea), outside of Jerry, you have a really young room. So, how have you seen guys like Isaiah (Bond) and Gage (Larvadain), and I know Gage is hurt at the moment, go through their rookie season so far and find their roles in this first stretch of games?
“I’ve been very pleased with our young players that we have in the receiver room. They’ve done such a good job of coming in here and working hard, and I think that we have some good leadership on this team, I really do. And I know that Tommy Rees has done a great job with the young players, of really teaching, coaching those guys and trying to get them to help us win games. And that’s certainly the attitude that they’ve had – they do everything to help the team, and I’m really excited to keep seeing these guys play, I really am. They’ve done everything we’ve asked from a preparation standpoint, and I think with increased opportunities, they’ll have success.”
With a guy like Isaiah, he wears his emotions on his sleeves a little bit. I know we saw after that one play he was yelling at somebody. Do you have to rein that in, or do you have to let him be who he is?
“It’s a good question. I think that there’s a lot of aspects that we have to be really good at on game day. You know, obviously, physically, mentally with knowing our assignment, and I do think there’s an emotional part of it. And I always think my best advice to the players is to be right down the middle. You know, let’s not get too high on the highs, not too low on the lows, and be right down the middle. And that’s what we encourage, both Isaiah and our other players to do. And myself, I remind myself of that a lot on game day as a coach, just to make sure that we just again, don’t get too high on the highs, too low on the lows – let’s just stay right in the middle and stay neutral, and we’ll be able to do our job a lot better. So, a lot of times with young players, they have to put together those three things – the physical, the mental, and the emotional part of it, and when they can put those things together, they have a good product.”
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